Instant Pot Split Pea and Ham Soup is made in under 35 minutes and is filled with vegetables and healthy split peas.
Santa came through! Momma got an Instant Pot. I know I’m a bit of late adopter with this cooking trend, BUT I’m glad I’ve finally arrived.
Split Pea and Ham Soup is one of my favourites and I love that it comes together so quickly in an Instant Pot. Loads of the cozy flavours we’re used to, but made in record time.
While this new machine is far from “instant” it is a dream for speeding up soups, stews, and other dishes that can take a long time. What is it? It’s basically a pressure cooker.
It has functions built in that allow for a rice cooker and a slow cooker as well, trying to replace a number of appliances with one. I have yet to give all the functions a whirl, but I do look forward to trying them all. Rice is next up on my list of items to tackle to see if I can indeed lose one appliance.
I remember growing up and having Split Pea and Ham Soup for New Years Day dinner. For good luck? I don’t know the history of that side of things, but I do know that I love Split Pea and Ham Soup. The kids loved the ham pieces and the bread and salad I served to go with the soup.
They’re STILL not into soup. I keep trying different ways to sway them into loving soup (serving it a cup vs a bowl, adding yogurt, cheese, etc.), but so far nothing seems to be shifting their opinions on soup. May 2019 bring some soup loving kids my way. 😉
What’s a split pea?
A dried pea that that’s been split in half. They come in green and yellow, while green seems to be more commonly used for this type of soup recipe. They look like a lentil, but come from a different legume and take a bit longer to cook than lentils (making them perfect for the Instant Pot).
Split peas are dense in nutrition and offer loads of iron, fibre, and magnesium. Perfect nutrients to form the foundation of a wholesome meal.
Looking for more soup ideas? Here are a few:
- Roasted Carrot Soup
- Slow Cooker Cream of Leek Soup with Chorizo Croutons
- Beet, Ginger and Coconut Milk Soup
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup is made in under 35 minutes and is filled with vegetables and healthy split peas.
- 2 cups green split peas
- 1.5 lbs smoked ham hock
- 8 cups water, vegetable or chicken stock
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 large carrots, peeled and finely diced
- 1 large celery rib (stalk), finely diced
- 1 medium yellow (cooking) onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 small bay leaves (dried or fresh)
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt use 1.5 tsp if using water in lieu of stock
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
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Turn Instant Pot to Sauté and add olive oil, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until beginning to soften.
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Add peas, ham, broth, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Stir to combine the flavours. Place lid on Instant Pot with venting leaver closed. Turn to soup pressure cooking high for 15 minutes. The Instant Pot will take 15 minutes or so to get to high pressure, then it will beep and begin counting down from the 15 minutes.
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Relieve pressure via quick release pressure valve once timer is up. Carefully open the lid (angled away from you) and remove ham hock. If you like your soup smooth, blend soup without ham pieces in it (either carefully with a blender or using an immersion blender).
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Remove and discard skin, bones, and excess fat. Chop up ham and place back in Instant Pot. Mix to combine.
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Serve soup hot***.
* Slow Cooker Method: place all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove ham hock from slow cooker. Discard skin, bones and excess fat. Chop up ham and place back in Slow Cooker. Mix to combine.
** Stove Top Method: Heat a large soup pot over high heat and add ham hock, peas, and water/broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer (low), cover, and cook, for 60 minutes. Add olive oil, carrots, celery, and onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer (low), cover, and cook, stirring occasionally for 60-90 minutes or until peas are soft.
*** Soup will thicken as it cools.
Enjoy! xo
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